济北王刘宽 / Liu Kuan, King of Jibei (Western Han)

Overview

济北王刘宽 / Liu Kuan is a Western Han prince used in the current source as a comparison for how political wrongdoing could reduce a royal burial’s treatment and grave goods.

Current Profile

Hanji 311 says Liu Kuan was close to 淮南王刘安, resented 汉武帝, and used a figurine in a curse ritual without directly joining Liu An’s rebellion. After denunciation he dies by suicide; the emperor then reportedly cancels a prepared gold-thread jade suit and requires a simplified burial.

The episode says the later-discovered tomb contained few objects and identifies a jade face covering as its most valuable find. Its argumentative role is comparative: if political fault could produce a sparse royal burial for Liu Kuan, Liu Ji’s own suspected disloyalty might qualify the expectation of a treasure-filled tomb. The analogy cannot establish Liu Ji’s treatment.

Key Characteristics

• Western Han king of Jibei, distinct from the late-Han official 刘宽.
• Presented as politically hostile to Han Wudi and associated with Liu An.
• Accused in the episode of a curse ritual rather than direct participation in rebellion.
• Reportedly denied a prepared gold-thread jade suit and buried under reduced rites.
• Later tomb described as sparse, with a jade face covering singled out.

Evidence

Political accusation and death:

• Hanji 311 narrates hostility, a figurine curse, denunciation, and suicide.

Reduced burial and later comparison:

• Hanji 311 says a gold-thread jade suit was withheld and later grave finds were sparse, using this sequence to qualify the rich-tomb hypothesis for Liu Ji.

Qualifications

The current profile depends on a compact popular-history episode rather than court records or an excavation report. The exact charge, denunciation, suicide circumstances, prepared jade suit, funerary order, tomb identification, assemblage size, and value ranking remain source-scoped. Liu Kuan’s treatment is an analogy for Liu Ji, not direct evidence of Liu Ji’s burial.

What Changed

• Created a disambiguated Western Han profile rather than colliding with the existing late-Han official of the same name.

Relationships

• 淮南王刘安 - royal conspirator with whom the episode associates Liu Kuan politically.
• 汉武帝 - emperor said to have reduced Liu Kuan’s funerary treatment.
• 胶东康王刘寄 - royal comparison whose unknown tomb may not match the expected rich-burial pattern.
• 汉代王侯厚葬与玉衣不朽信仰 - expected elite burial pattern from which the reported cancellation departs.